Ahead of the March election, Boca Raton city officials are providing residents with information about a proposal to bring a new police headquarters to the city.
Of the two questions on the ballot, the first one pertains to whether the city should fund the construction of the police headquarters through $175 million in bond funds. The second asks residents whether the city should move forward with One Boca, a proposal to bring residences, a hotel, office and retail space to the land below the Brightline station and new government facilities.
At a recent public meeting, city officials explained to several residents how the proposal could affect them.
“We are not here to ask you to vote for it or to try to influence your vote. We’re really here to just provide you information so that you’re educated voters and you can make your own decision,” Jim Zervis, the city’s deputy city manager and chief financial officer, said at an information session Wednesday afternoon.
The finances
The general obligation bond the city is proposing to pay for the project is a government-financing option that property owners repay through property taxes.
The city estimates the average property tax impact from this bond would be about $123.74 a year, which is based on a home worth $475,000 in taxable value. This would be in addition to the city’s operating taxes.
These increases are not expected to last longer than 30 years.
“That’s the whole reason that (residents) get to vote is because they’re voting to tax themselves,” Zervis said.
James Zervis, Boca Raton deputy city manager, left, and Lauren Burack, of Boca Raton Public Works and Engineering, answer residents’ questions during the city’s final informational session about the proposed Police Department headquarters project at Spanish River Library in Boca Raton on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
The need
Issues with the current police headquarters at 100 NW Boca Raton Blvd., just south of the Brightline station, can be summed up simply as too old and too small.
That building was constructed in 1986, which was before Hurricane Andrew struck and subsequently spurred stricter building codes. So, if a bad storm is on track to hit Boca Raton, the building has to be evacuated, Police Chief Michele Miuccio said.
Since 1986, the city also has grown from nearly 59,000 people to more than 103,000 people, and police department employees have more than doubled from about 140 to more than 330 employees, Miuccio said. With the growth in employees, the department’s equipment has grown, too.
“We’re a full-service police department,” Miuccio said. “We have drones, we have SWAT, we have honor guard, we have a dive team.”
Of the need for space, Miuccio said, “We’re kind of busting at the seams.”
A map shows where a new police headquarters could be built in Boca Raton if residents approve a referendum question that would increase taxes for property owners. (City of Boca Raton)
The new headquarters
The new police headquarters is proposed on land along Broken Sound Boulevard between Spanish River Library and the Boca Raton Innovation Campus, where part of IBM used to operate. Now, the site is overgrown vegetation.
So far, environmental specialists screened for animals such as gopher tortoises and all they found were raccoons. The city also will be conducting a tree survey.
The project will not affect the popular walking and biking trail behind the Spanish River Library and is instead intended to connect the library to the headquarters “to enhance connectivity and the public-facing elements of a police department,” said Lauren Burack, the city’s public works and engineering deputy director.
The new facility is not expected to affect response times, which Miuccio said are under five minutes for emergencies and under 30 minutes for non-emergencies.
In September, Muiccio said during a city meeting: ““What people have to understand is our patrol officers are strategically placed in zones throughout the entire city, and they also have staggered start and stop times. So we always have police officers out on the road at any given moment.”
An information flyer is seen during the city of Boca Raton’s final informational session about the proposed Police Department headquarters project at Spanish River Library in Boca Raton on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
The March 10 Ballot
The city’s general election ballot will have two referendum questions: The first pertains to the police headquarters and the second pertains to whether residents should approve One Boca.
These referendum questions are not inherently connected, which is a common misconception among residents, Zervis said. If the police headquarters plan is shot down, then the city will regroup to determine why; if the plan is approved, then it will move forward as planned, Burack said.
The price tag appears to be the biggest deterrent for critics of the new headquarters, with residents taking to social media to complain.
On a Facebook post where a user encourages people to vote against the police station, another user comments: “$175 Million….Are they insane?”
However, the One Boca project has drawn fiercer opposition over the past year. Lawn signs and T-shirts encouraging people to vote “no” on the One Boca project have multiplied in recent weeks as the election nears.
Regardless of the outcomes on March 10, this year’s general election is proving to be one of the city’s most pivotal in years.
